Cardiac Rehabilitation, Spiritual Needs and Pastoral Care at Sydney Adventist Hospital

Abstract

The purpose of this Ministry Focus Paper is to develop a strategy for meeting the spiritual needs of cardiac patients. Historically, spiritual and physical care have developed in separate directions, a process inimical to the care of patients as whole persons. Seventh-day Adventist theology includes a yet untapped potential to reunite these dimensions of care. Niebuhr's typology of the relationships between Christ and culture suggests that Christianity may function as the transformer of culture. This stance is used as a paradigm within which spiritual and physical care may be usefully related. It is proposed that biblical anthropology, understood through the doctrines of creation, fall, and redemption, might be developed as a uniquely Christian understanding of human beings applicable in wholistic care.